Intentions to Marry, 1901 North Island

Reference: Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages, Notices of intention to marry, Series 8937, R2840419, Archives New Zealand Te Rua Mahara o te Kāwanatanga, Wellington

Imaged by Luke at Archives NZ Wellington, September 22 2025

1901 is bound in two volumes, North Island districts and South Island districts.

Page 929

District of Hunterville Quarter ending 31 March 1901 Registrar Reginald Sherman

Date of Notice

Names and Surnames of Parties

BDM Match

Condition

Calling or Profession

Age

Dwelling Place

Length of Residence

Marriage Place

Folio

Consent

Date of Certificate

Officiating Minister

183

11 January 1901

William John Keenaw
Ellen Henderson

William John Keenan
Ellen Henderson
💍 1901/441

William John Cowie
Christina Henderson
💍 1901/2518

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer
Domestic

27
20

Rata
Rata

7 Years
8 Years

At the Residence of William Henderson Rata

01/497

11 January 1901

Rev. D. Gordon, Presbyterian Minister Marton

No	183
Date of Notice	11 January 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	William John Keenaw	Ellen Henderson
BDM Match (97%)	William John Keenan	Ellen Henderson
	💍 1901/441
BDM Match (63%)	William John Cowie	Christina Henderson
	💍 1901/2518
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	Domestic
Age	27	20
Dwelling Place	Rata	Rata
Length of Residence	7 Years	8 Years
Marriage Place	At the Residence of William Henderson Rata
Folio	01/497
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 January 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. Gordon, Presbyterian Minister Marton

184

11 February 1901

Richard Alexander Campbell
Elexia Bruce Paul

Richard Alexander Campbell
Elexia Bruce Paul
💍 1901/158

Bachelor
Spinster

Storeman
Domestic

23
24

Hunterville
Hunterville

12 years
8 years

At the Residence of W. C. R. Campbell

01/438

11 February 1901

Rev. Samuel Henderson, Primitive Methodist Minister

No	184
Date of Notice	11 February 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Richard Alexander Campbell	Elexia Bruce Paul
	💍 1901/158
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Storeman	Domestic
Age	23	24
Dwelling Place	Hunterville	Hunterville
Length of Residence	12 years	8 years
Marriage Place	At the Residence of W. C. R. Campbell
Folio	01/438
Consent
Date of Certificate	11 February 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. Samuel Henderson, Primitive Methodist Minister

185

6 March 1901

Herbert Norman Theobald
Emma Kane

Herbert Norman Theobald
Emma Kane
💍 1901/157

Bachelor
Widow

Farmer
Domestic

24 years
29 years

Hunterville
Hunterville

14 years
14 years

At the Office of the Registrar of Marriages

01/437

6 March 1901

Reginald Sherman, Registrar Hunterville

No	185
Date of Notice	6 March 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Herbert Norman Theobald	Emma Kane
	💍 1901/157
Condition	Bachelor	Widow
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	24 years	29 years
Dwelling Place	Hunterville	Hunterville
Length of Residence	14 years	14 years
Marriage Place	At the Office of the Registrar of Marriages
Folio	01/437
Consent
Date of Certificate	6 March 1901
Officiating Minister	Reginald Sherman, Registrar Hunterville

186

26 March 1901

George Henry Bishell
Elfriede Elizabeth Augusta Hillmer

George Henry Bishell
Elfriede Elizabeth Augusta Hillmer
💍 1901/442

Bachelor
Spinster

Farmer
Domestic

29 years
26 years

Blenheim
Ohnigaiti

25 years
6 years

At the Residence of John T. Hillmer Ohnigaiti

01/498

26 March 1901

Rev. D. Gordon, Presbyterian Minister

No	186
Date of Notice	26 March 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	George Henry Bishell	Elfriede Elizabeth Augusta Hillmer
	💍 1901/442
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Farmer	Domestic
Age	29 years	26 years
Dwelling Place	Blenheim	Ohnigaiti
Length of Residence	25 years	6 years
Marriage Place	At the Residence of John T. Hillmer Ohnigaiti
Folio	01/498
Consent
Date of Certificate	26 March 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. D. Gordon, Presbyterian Minister

187

30 March 1901

Henry Herbert Stent
Annie Keat

Harry Herbert Stent
Annie Leat
💍 1901/1595

Bachelor
Spinster

Laborer
Domestic

26 years
20 years

Sandon Block
Sandon Block

7 years
7 years

At the Residence of Harry Leat Sandon Block

01/1920

Harry Leat, father of Annie Leat

30 March 1901

Rev. T. L. Dove, Anglican Minister Hunterville

No	187
Date of Notice	30 March 1901
	Groom	Bride
Names of Parties	Henry Herbert Stent	Annie Keat
BDM Match (90%)	Harry Herbert Stent	Annie Leat
	💍 1901/1595
Condition	Bachelor	Spinster
Profession	Laborer	Domestic
Age	26 years	20 years
Dwelling Place	Sandon Block	Sandon Block
Length of Residence	7 years	7 years
Marriage Place	At the Residence of Harry Leat Sandon Block
Folio	01/1920
Consent	Harry Leat, father of Annie Leat
Date of Certificate	30 March 1901
Officiating Minister	Rev. T. L. Dove, Anglican Minister Hunterville

These records have been automatically transcribed and must be verified using the page image (below)

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What is an Intention to Marry?

The 1854 Marriage Act required Pakeha settlers (and later Maori) to register their intention to marry from 1855. The resulting Notices of intention to marry were sent by the district registrars to the Registrar-General of Births, Deaths and Marriages and bound into large volumes, each containing a year of notices. These registers were eventually deposited with Archives New Zealand.

What information does an ItM record?

A typical Intention to Marry notice records:

the bride and groom's full names
occupation of the groom (and sometimes the bride)
their ages
district where the marriage would take place
how long they had resided in the district
Where the marriage would take place (eg, a specific church)
Who would officiate the marriage (eg, a minister)
The date of the notice and also a date when the certificate was issued. Marriages had to take place within 3 months, and usually occurred within a week or so of the certificate date.
If one of the parties was under 21, a parent who consented to their marriage was usually specified

These details can provide clues for genealogical and historical research. Knowing the date and district makes it easier to look for wedding notices in Papers Past, and the amount of time that the parties had resided in a district can offer clues to whether a person was born in NZ, or when they immigrated.

However, finding individual records in the Intentions to Marry registers was typically a slow and manual process, usually requiring an in-person visit to Archives NZ's Wellington office (during limited opening hours) and using a handwritten card catalogue index to look up individual names.

Eight years of the registers had been digitised by Archives NZ prior to 2024, but even these digital versions required the use of a manual index and usually examining several pages to locate specific records.

What is the Intentions to Marry Project?

This project aims to transcribe the New Zealand Intentions to Marry registers (from 1855 to 1925) with the assistance of new technology (AI), making the records freely available and easily searchable.

The ITM records have also been cross-referenced with the registered marriages at DIA Births, Deaths and Marriages, where possible (a small fraction of the recorded intentions to marry did not become a registered marriage).

Currently we have almost all records between 1855 and 1903. More registers are being added almost every week.

The project is led by Luke Howison, a web developer who made the free genealogical research search tool NZ Ancestor Search Helper and Archway-style Collections Search. There are also some wonderful volunteers assisting with digitising the registers.

Can I volunteer to help?

Yes, you can! You can sign up to correct errors in the transcribed records and match ITMs with registered marriages.

I am also looking for Wellington-based volunteers to help me digitise more years of the registers. I can provide lighting equipment and a 'clicker' (to trigger your phone's camera).

How is the transcription done?

There are several steps to digitising and transcribing the records:

Digitising the registers (taking clean, straight, high-quality photos)
Processing the digitised pages by straightening, cropping and sharpening the images
Transcribing each page with a combination of AI tools
Matching each ITM with a registered marriage when possible
Human verification of the transcribed information

The main LLM (AI) used are the Google Gemini Pro and Flash models, which have excellent 'Vision' capabilities, and a generous free tier.

Archives NZ has released the register years they have digitised (1865-69, 1872, 1874 and 1880) under a Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 license.

The Intention to Marry registers (up to 1925) are more than 100 years old, so their Crown Copyright has expired, putting them in the public domain. This also applies to any 'mechanical reproductions' (eg, pictures or photocopies) of their content without substantial alteration.

The transcribed records on this website are released under the Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal license, which allows reusers to distribute, remix, adapt, and build upon the material in any medium or format, even for commercial purposes, while giving credit to the creator (NZ Intentions to Marry Project).